Little Star Day Care
A family child care home in Durham, North Carolina 27704
3407 Emily Street, Durham, North Carolina 27704. (919) 220-2817.
Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. North Carolina’s own record is on ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov.
The short answer
- 11 violations in the last three years
- Sep 302026 the latest visit on record
- 8 children, its licensed capacity
Each figure’s source sits beside it, in its section below.
What these words mean5
- Inspection (survey)
- A visit by state inspectors, often unannounced, who check a place against the rules it must meet. For nursing homes and other places Medicare pays, CMS calls these visits surveys: a standard survey of a nursing home comes at least every 15 months, and a complaint survey whenever a complaint calls for one. Source: CMS; 42 CFR 488.308.
- Deficiency, citation, violation
- What inspectors write up when a place didn’t meet a rule: the rule, what they saw, and when. CMS calls it a deficiency; states may say citation or violation. It is the inspectors’ finding, not a court’s, and the place is usually asked for a plan to correct it. Source: CMS, statement of deficiencies (Form CMS-2567); each state’s licensing agency.
- Quality rating
- Many states rate child care in a quality rating system that goes past the licensing rules, such as Texas Rising Star or Kentucky All STARS. Taking part is often voluntary, so a program with no rating hasn’t been rated low. Source: Each state’s quality rating system.
- Licence status
- Whether the state’s licence lets the place operate now, in the state’s own words: licensed, on probation (allowed to keep operating on conditions, after problems), provisional, pending or expired. Source: Each state’s licensing agency.
- Capacity
- The most people the licence or certification lets the place care for at once: residents, children, beds or apartments, as the state counts them. It isn’t how many are there now. Source: Each state’s licensing agency.
What did inspectors find?
8 DCDEE visits in the last three years, the latest on Sep 30, 2026.
11 violations cited in the last three years, 11 of them marked corrected.
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE), Child Care Facility Search (ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov): licences, DCDEE visits and violations. Checked Oct 21, 2026. Updated daily.
When those violations happened
11 violations in 5 months of the last 36. Last cited Sep 2026. The last 3 years, to Nov 3, 2026.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Dec | |||||||||||
| 2024 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 2025 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 2026 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov |
Hover or focus a month to read it.
Hearth Record drew this from the dates and levels in the source’s own records.
Each violation, in its source’s words
Grouped by visit, newest first, with the level its source gave it.
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE), Child Care Facility Search (ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov): licences, DCDEE visits and violations. Checked Oct 21, 2026. Updated daily.
Sep 30, 2026: unannounced1 violation
-
A valid qualification letter was not on file and available for review at the facility.
“The household member did not have a valid qualification letter on file.”
Apr 20, 2026: unannounced3 violations
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Application did not include names and contact information of individuals to whom the operator may release the child as authorized by the person who signs the application.
“One child’s application did not include authorized pick-up other than the parents.”
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Home was not equipped with either an electrically operated smoke detector with a battery back-up; or both an electrically operated detector and a battery operated detector located next to each other.
“The electrically operated smoke detector was not operating during the visit.”
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Operator and/or staff members did not complete a professional development plan within one year of employment.
“The professional development plan was not available for review.”
Jan 12, 2026: unannounced1 violation
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All records required shall be available during operating hours, for review by a representative of the Division.
“The outdoor inspections from June-November 2025 were not available for review.”
May 13, 2025: unannounced3 violations
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Health questionnaire was not completed annually.
“The last health questionnaire was completed on 5/1/24.”
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Operator did not maintain accurate daily attendance records including documentation of arrival and departure for all children in care, including the operator’s own preschool children.
“The last documented day of attendance was 5/5/25.”
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Records were not made available for review.
“The child receiving drop-in care did not have paperwork on file.”
May 15, 2024: unannounced3 violations
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Application did not include names and contact information of individuals to whom the operator may release the child as authorized by the person who signs the application.
“Contact information was needed for the individual authorized to pick-up the child enrolled in case of an emergency.”
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Operator and/or staff who work with children, did not complete health and safety training as part of on-going training so that every five years, all the topic areas were covered.
“The operator completed the trainings in 2018. The operator had not completed the trainings again in 2023, as required.”
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Products that are labeled “keep out of reach of children” without any other warnings, were not stored on a shelf or in an unlocked cabinet that is five feet above the finished floor.
“Hair products with the label “Keep out of reach of children” were located in the unlocked cabinet under the sink in the children’s bathroom.”
All 8 visits on record
| Date | Visit | What the record says |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2026 | Unannounced visit | 1 violation cited |
| Apr 20, 2026 | Unannounced visit | 3 violations cited |
| Mar 4, 2026 | Unannounced visit | No violations cited |
| Jan 12, 2026 | Unannounced visit | 1 violation cited |
| May 13, 2025 | Unannounced visit | 3 violations cited |
| Nov 4, 2024 | Unannounced visit | No violations cited |
| May 15, 2024 | Unannounced visit | 3 violations cited |
| Nov 15, 2023 | Unannounced visit | No violations cited |
Is it licensed?
- Family Child Care Home, holding a Four Star Family CC Home License since Sep 20, 2019.
- Licensed for 8 children, ages 0 through 12.
- Enrolled in North Carolina’s subsidized child care program.
- North Carolina’s licence number: 32001799.
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE), Child Care Facility Search (ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov): licences, DCDEE visits and violations. Checked Oct 21, 2026. Updated daily.
Has North Carolina acted against it?
- DCDEE says it has taken no action against this facility, for its current licence and location, in the last three years.
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE), Child Care Facility Search (ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov): licences, DCDEE visits and violations. Checked Oct 21, 2026. Updated daily.
Who does the caring?
- North Carolina’s page gives a staff-to-child ratio policy as the provider reports it, unverified by DCDEE, so it isn’t shown.
Who owns it?
- Owner, as North Carolina lists it: Leake, Shirley F..
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE), Child Care Facility Search (ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov): licences, DCDEE visits and violations. Checked Oct 21, 2026. Updated daily.
How is it rated?
- Star Rated License: 4 stars of five.
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE), Child Care Facility Search (ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov): licences, DCDEE visits and violations. Checked Oct 21, 2026. Updated daily.
How does it compare nearby?
- Among 225 child care providers in Durham County, the middle value for violations cited in the last three years was 9; this one had 11.
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE), Child Care Facility Search (ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov): licences, DCDEE visits and violations. Checked Oct 21, 2026. Updated daily.
| Place | Violations cited in the last three years |
|---|---|
| Little Star Day Care This child care provider | 11 |
| Bright Horizons at North Durham | 25 |
| Peggie Moore Day Care Home | 8 |
| Care Bear Home Day Care | 31 |
| Little Learners Day Care Center | 21 |
| Kadejah’s Playhouse | 14 |
| Palmer Step 1, 2, 3, Day Care | 26 |
| Raven’s Wonderland | 29 |
| Tendercare Learning Center | 17 |
| Merrick-Moore Sac Club | 2 |
| Club Blvd Sac Club | 3 |
| Holt Sac Club | 7 |
| Sunshine Smiles Academy | 21 |
What the record doesn’t say
- North Carolina doesn’t show a visit summary tied to an open child maltreatment investigation while the case is active, and shows an administrative action only after its 30-day appeal period, without saying what it was.
- DCDEE’s descriptions of violations are shown in its own words; a description that names or may name a person isn’t shown. Visit summaries, the consultants’ full reports, aren’t read.
- North Carolina’s page lists the provider’s own features (transport, ratios) as furnished by the provider and unverified by DCDEE, so they aren’t shown.
Sources
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North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE), Child Care Facility Search (ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov): licences, DCDEE visits and violations.
Checked Oct 21, 2026. Updated daily. nc.gov terms: copying and distribution for non-commercial use, without alteration, citing the source. Shown free and never sold; DCDEE’s own words are quoted.
If you believe something here is wrong, a correction starts with the agency whose record this copies: North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE). North Carolina’s own record is on ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov. If Hearth Record copied something wrongly, it will fix it and log the correction publicly, with its date: how corrections work.
This copy of the record was made on Nov 3, 2026.
From the provider
The public record above comes first. Anything the provider adds will appear here, below it, and say who wrote it.
Replies
None. Replies aren’t open yet. When they open, the provider will be able to answer any finding for free, and the reply will show beside that finding, unedited and dated.
Paid listing
None. Paid listings aren’t open yet. When they open, anything paid for will say “Paid by the provider”, and paying will never change a finding, a rating or the order of results.